The Flagship Species Fund
Established in November 2001, as a joint initiative between the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Fauna & Flora International, the Flagship Species Fund provides practical support to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats in developing countries. The Fund is supported not only by Defra, but also the corporate sector and has already received contributions from BP, Rio Tinto and Vodafone.
Since 2001 the Flagship Species Fund has made 92 awards to projects operating in 37 countries and contributed to the conservation of 56 threatened species - including gorillas, orang-utans, wild dogs, marine turtles and a range of tree species. In 2007, six priority conservation projects were supported.
The Fund focuses on popular and highly visible threatened species of animals and plants, so called 'flagship species'. These can be used to ensure wider ecosystem benefits, since they attract conservation attention and funding for sites that are important for many other species. Current priorities are primates, sea turtles and trees.
Typically, Flagship Species Fund grant recipients run locally-operated projects in developing countries, often working in difficult field conditions. Despite their day-to-day difficulties, these committed local conservationists work against the odds to secure the protection of threatened species and habitats. The Fund provides strategic funding in the essential early stages of conservation projects, and many of the initiatives funded have subsequently flourished and secured more substantial funds from other sources.
Main grants
Small grants
Previously funded projects
Small grants programme
The fund provides urgently needed support to small-scale and pilot conservation projects around the world that are concerned directly with the protection of endangered flagship species. This year the fund will focus exclusively on amphibians.
FFI will not be considering any more applications in 2008. The next deadline for receipt of applications is likely to be in February 2009.
To find out more about supporting the Flagship Species Fund, please contact Esther Bertram at esther.bertram@fauna-flora.org or call +44 (0)1223 571000.
Send your old mobile phone to our partner, Fonebak, and they'll recycle or re-use every phone - and donate £5 to FFI for every phone received. Please recycle your old phone.
Conservation and human needs are inextricably linked, download our leaflet that describes how we integrate conservation and human needs.